Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Spends Better (“we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and protects information when you visit spendsbetter.com (the “Website”). We have written it in plain language so you can understand what happens to your information without wading through legal text.
If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us at [email protected] or through our contact page.
1. Information We Collect
We collect a small amount of information through ordinary website analytics and through the forms you choose to fill in:
- Analytics data, pages you visit, approximate location at the country or region level, the type of device and browser you used, and how you arrived at the site. This data is collected through a privacy-respecting analytics provider and is not tied to your name or contact details.
- Newsletter sign-up, if you join our Sunday Letter, we collect your email address. We do not collect any other personal data through that form.
- Contact form, if you write to us through the contact page, we collect your name, email address, the topic you selected, and the contents of your message so that we can respond.
- Cookies and similar technologies, small text files that help the site remember basic preferences and that help our analytics provider count visits. See the Cookies section below for details.
2. Cookies and Tracking Technologies
We use a small number of cookies on the Website:
- Essential cookies remember basic display preferences, such as whether you have dismissed a banner.
- Analytics cookies help us measure how many people visit the site and which articles are popular. These cookies do not personally identify you.
- Advertising cookies may be set by our advertising partners (see the Advertising section below). These cookies help advertisers measure performance and, where personalization is enabled, show ads that are more relevant to you.
You can clear cookies through your browser settings at any time. Most browsers also allow you to block cookies entirely, although doing so may affect how some parts of the site work.
3. Advertising and Third-Party Partners
Like most independent publications on the open web, Spends Better is partially supported by advertising. We work with third-party advertising partners, which may include Google, to display ads on the Website.
These advertising partners may use cookies, web beacons, device identifiers, and similar technologies to:
- Measure ad performance and detect invalid activity;
- Cap the number of times you see the same ad;
- Where permitted and where you have not opted out, show ads that are more relevant to your interests based on your visits to this and other websites.
Google and other approved third-party vendors may serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to this Website or to other websites. Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visits to this site and your activity across the web.
4. Advertising Personalization Controls
You can manage how advertising is personalized to you at any time. Google provides two free, official tools that let you review, adjust, or turn off personalized advertising across Google services and the wider Google advertising network:
- Google Ad Settings, https://adssettings.google.com
Use this page to turn personalized ads on or off for your Google account, review the topics Google has associated with your account, and remove ones you would rather not see. - My Ad Center, https://myadcenter.google.com
This is Google’s newer hub for managing the advertisers, brands, and topics that influence the ads you see. You can hide specific advertisers, adjust ad topics, and review your advertising preferences in one place.
You can also opt out of personalized advertising from many companies at the same time through industry-run tools such as the Network Advertising Initiative (optout.networkadvertising.org) and the Digital Advertising Alliance (optout.aboutads.info). Most modern browsers also include a setting to limit cross-site tracking.
Turning off personalized advertising does not remove ads from the Website. It simply means the ads you see will be based on context rather than your personal browsing history.
5. How We Use the Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To improve the structure and content of the Website;
- To send the Sunday Letter to subscribers who have asked for it;
- To respond to messages you send through the contact page;
- To measure overall advertising performance with our partners;
- To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security issues.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data with any third party.
6. Third-Party Services
We use third-party providers for hosting, analytics, email delivery, and advertising. These providers process data on our behalf under their own privacy policies and only see the data they need to perform their function. If you would like a list of the providers we currently work with, please write to us at [email protected].
7. Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate;
- Ask us to delete information we hold about you;
- Ask us to stop using your information for a specific purpose;
- Opt out of marketing communications at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, please email [email protected] with a brief description of your request. We aim to respond within fourteen days.
8. Children
Spends Better is written for adult readers and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under that age. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.
9. International Visitors
Spends Better is operated from the United States. If you visit the Website from another country, please be aware that your information may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your country.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make a meaningful change, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. Significant changes will also be announced to Sunday Letter subscribers. Continued use of the Website after a change means you accept the updated policy.
11. How to Contact Us
If you have a question about this Privacy Policy, would like to exercise one of the rights described above, or need to update your information, please contact us at:
- Email: [email protected]
- Contact form: https://spendsbetter.com/contact/
- Mailing address: Spends Better, P.O. Box 442, Burlington, VT 05402, United States
We read every message ourselves and aim to reply within three business days.